In Yunnan, the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture 大 理 白 族 自 治 州 administers 12 county-level divisions, one of which is Jianchuan County 劍 川 縣.
Jianchuan has 5 towns and 3 villages under its jurisdiction and one of them is Shaxi. The ethnic groups in Shaxi are predominantly Bai 白 族 and Yi 彝 族.
Tea-Horse Ancient Road 茶 馬 古 道 and Shaxi 沙 溪
Yunnan 雲 南 and Sichuan 四 川 were the first tea producers in the world. Tea was traded for horses from Tibet 西 藏 and the trade route of Tea-Horse Ancient Road was thus formed.
Shaxi is an old market town and the best preserved and complete Tea-Horse Ancient Town in the world. The World Monuments Fund has put Shaxi on the watch list since 2001.
Getting There and Away – Shaxi 沙 溪
The gateway to Shaxi is Jianchuan County 劍 川 縣. The green rural van charges CNY 13 for the trip of 31 km.
Jianchuan is 60 km from Lijiang 麗 江 and 120 km from Xiaguan下 關, which is commonly called Dali City 大 理 市. Both prefecture-cities 州 市 have regular buses wit Jianchuan. It worked out quite well for me, as I came from Lijiang and after Shaxi, I would head to Dali Old Town 大 理 古 鎮 on the bus to Xiaguan.
Sideng Street 寺 登 街 in Shaxi 沙 溪 and the nearby villages
The Tea-Horse Ancient Town 茶 馬 古 鎮 is on Sideng Street. The old town square still has the original architecture intact.
After settling in my guest house, I ventured out to comb every part of the town and the adjacent villages.